My Pro Used The Contraption On Me

I had a lesson this morning. When I arrived, my pro left the court and went out to his car. When he returned, he was carrying The Contraption.

It was a yellow, metal thing sitting on a fixed triangular base. It reached upward, and it had a tennis ball mounted and suspended about three feet over the ground. The tennis ball was on a rubberized appendage so that if you hit the tennis ball the arm would bend forward and then return to its upright position. The tennis ball rotated freely.

Anyway, pro explained that the contraption was going to help me improve my topspin. He demonstrated his FH, putting the tennis ball in his contact point and hitting/brushing up on it. The idea was to get a lot of brushing and little forward movement. If you drove through the ball, it would whip violently forward on its rubberized appendage, and that is bad. He was trying to get more of a windshield wiper motion out of me.

He had me hit multiple reps, with him watching closely and making little adjustments until everything was perfect. Then I hit real balls.

Dang.

I have been struggling with controlling topspin and producing a ton of it when I need it most -- short angles. I just couldn't get the hang of whatever needs to be done to get sick topspin and really shape the ball trajectory at will, especially when close to the net.

After a few minutes with The Contraption, I was doing it. From the baseline off of live balls, I could rip short angles that I didn't think possible.

We then repeated the whole drill on the BH side. This was a little less successful, but there was measurable improvement.

Has anyone ever used The Contraption as a student or as a teacher? 'Cause I don't know what he paid for it, but that thing is worth the money!

I had a lesson this morning. When I arrived, my pro left the court and went out to his car. When he returned, he was carrying The Contraption.

It was a yellow, metal thing sitting on a fixed triangular base. It reached upward, and it had a tennis ball mounted and suspended about three feet over the ground. The tennis ball was on a rubberized appendage so that if you hit the tennis ball the arm would bend forward and then return to its upright position. The tennis ball rotated freely.

Anyway, pro explained that the contraption was going to help me improve my topspin. He demonstrated his FH, putting the tennis ball in his contact point and hitting/brushing up on it. The idea was to get a lot of brushing and little forward movement. If you drove through the ball, it would whip violently forward on its rubberized appendage, and that is bad. He was trying to get more of a windshield wiper motion out of me.

He had me hit multiple reps, with him watching closely and making little adjustments until everything was perfect. Then I hit real balls.

Dang.

I have been struggling with controlling topspin and producing a ton of it when I need it most -- short angles. I just couldn't get the hang of whatever needs to be done to get sick topspin and really shape the ball trajectory at will, especially when close to the net.

After a few minutes with The Contraption, I was doing it. From the baseline off of live balls, I could rip short angles that I didn't think possible.

We then repeated the whole drill on the BH side. This was a little less successful, but there was measurable improvement.

Has anyone ever used The Contraption as a student or as a teacher? 'Cause I don't know what he paid for it, but that thing is worth the money!

Click to expand...

maybe you could tell us its real name and link??? that would be much more informative

Now, this thing here isn't nearly as good. The base has to be filled with sand or water -- the last things you want on a tennis court. The Contraption, in contrast, is stable because of its wide base.

This thing has a foam ball attached. The Contraption had a regular tennis ball with a steel dowel running through it, so it spun freely and had the feel of a regular tennis ball. I assume the tennis ball can be swapped out when it gets old.

I'll keep looking, but I doubt I can find a picture of it. He said he bought it in Florida.

OK, this looks closer, although I'm not sure. The tennis ball holding bit looks right, in that I think it was angled toward me.

It's weird to see the people taking huge cuts at it. We were using it in a very controlled fashion.

Click to expand...

Trust me it's the same thing. My tennis pro showed it off last summer and said it would help us deploy topspin and also concentrate on the ball more. Said it was called the eye coach. His was also yellow and black, the exact way you described it.

I had a lesson this morning. When I arrived, my pro left the court and went out to his car. When he returned, he was carrying The Contraption.

It was a yellow, metal thing sitting on a fixed triangular base. It reached upward, and it had a tennis ball mounted and suspended about three feet over the ground. The tennis ball was on a rubberized appendage so that if you hit the tennis ball the arm would bend forward and then return to its upright position. The tennis ball rotated freely.

Anyway, pro explained that the contraption was going to help me improve my topspin. He demonstrated his FH, putting the tennis ball in his contact point and hitting/brushing up on it. The idea was to get a lot of brushing and little forward movement. If you drove through the ball, it would whip violently forward on its rubberized appendage, and that is bad. He was trying to get more of a windshield wiper motion out of me.

He had me hit multiple reps, with him watching closely and making little adjustments until everything was perfect. Then I hit real balls.

Dang.

I have been struggling with controlling topspin and producing a ton of it when I need it most -- short angles. I just couldn't get the hang of whatever needs to be done to get sick topspin and really shape the ball trajectory at will, especially when close to the net.

After a few minutes with The Contraption, I was doing it. From the baseline off of live balls, I could rip short angles that I didn't think possible.

We then repeated the whole drill on the BH side. This was a little less successful, but there was measurable improvement.

Has anyone ever used The Contraption as a student or as a teacher? 'Cause I don't know what he paid for it, but that thing is worth the money!

Click to expand...

All anyone really has to do is to drop a ball to the ground and hit it across the court. That way, you can examine the net clearance and how much the ball jumps off the court. Practicing underspin is practically impossible thou.

Trust me it's the same thing. My tennis pro showed it off last summer and said it would help us deploy topspin and also concentrate on the ball more. Said it was called the eye coach. His was also yellow and black, the exact way you described it.

Click to expand...

The contraption, according to my pro, is called HAL (for Hit and Learn).

So it is not the same thing.

I could not find a pic on the internet. Perhaps they do not make it anymore. As I said, he bought it some time ago in Florida.

All anyone really has to do is to drop a ball to the ground and hit it across the court. That way, you can examine the net clearance and how much the ball jumps off the court. Practicing underspin is practically impossible thou.

Click to expand...

No, this contraption had a lot of value that drop feeding does not. I have spent hours drop feeding, and I never could get the same breakthrough.

The cool thing about the contraption is that you can freeze or go as slowly as you want, and he is standing 3 feet away able to make corrections.

I'm a big fan of drop feeding, though, so when the weather clears I will go out and see try to get some muscle memory on what I learned.

Ah, OK. It's odd that they market it under two different names, though. I have to say, eye coach is kind of lame. They should stick with HAL. It's certainly a better name than "The Contraption."

Anyway, I'm kind of surprised that the Eye Coach video has this little girl whacking at the ball like that. I guess "Parents who like their kids to whack at things" is one target market, I suppose. I'd never buy something like that for my kid to practice with, as it reeks of something the kid would use for 2 minutes before getting bored, requiring me to keep it in the basement.

I did think it was terrific for working on stroke mechanics with a pro.

A year ago or so at one tournament on TV they were talking about some kind of device that the tournament was sponsoring (maybe Charleston?). Seemed like they were saying it was going to be the next big thing and pros or maybe the USTA were talking it up. Never really heard any more about it, though. Is this device (HAL EyeCoach) the same thing?

Cindysphinx, so is this the old or the new teaching pro? Sounds like the lessons are going well.

Click to expand...

This is New Pro.

New pro is very interesting. He has another 3.5 female student, and he has been coaching her for a long time. She's a big fan of singles. She has joined my tennis team.

Well, she and I played singles a few weeks ago. She was whipping me, but good. I look up during the second set, and New Pro is sitting there in the viewing window, watching. She had told him when and where we were playing, obviously.

I think his watching me take a beating led in part to his bringing The Contraption to our lesson. He got a chance to see how I play, and he must have seen how much I struggle finding angles on short-ish balls and how my topspin failed me quite often.

Anyway . . . I went out today and did some drop feeding to work on this WW element of the stroke. When I get it, it is amazing. Gotta keep working on it . . .

The device has had many names over many years. It was developed by Lenny Schloss who used to own/run Baltimore Tennis and Fitness aka Hilton.

When I was teaching in Baltimore, I spent a couple years helping the Baltimore Tennis Patrons with their winter and Summer programs and we used this device. Originally it was called something else, then when we had it it was called the Accuhit. Each time, something is tweaked to improve it. Could be as simple as the mounting system or whatever--then the name changes.

Then It was changed to HAL.

now apparently its called the Eye Coach.

Baltimore Tennis and Fitness used (maybe still do) offer free 30min lessons, majority of which would be spent using this device to create muscle memory. Then they would go into dead ball feeding and slowly into rallying.

It can help develop a feel for topspin bc its a visual as well as a kinesthetic aid. Also helps establish timing.
there are a ton of drills to use on the device.

I recommend using an older racquet bc if you mishit, and hit the frame of the device, u can break strings or even a frame.

The device has had many names over many years. It was developed by Lenny Schloss who used to own/run Baltimore Tennis and Fitness aka Hilton.

When I was teaching in Baltimore, I spent a couple years helping the Baltimore Tennis Patrons with their winter and Summer programs and we used this device. Originally it was called something else, then when we had it it was called the Accuhit. Each time, something is tweaked to improve it. Could be as simple as the mounting system or whatever--then the name changes.

Then It was changed to HAL.

now apparently its called the Eye Coach.

Baltimore Tennis and Fitness used (maybe still do) offer free 30min lessons, majority of which would be spent using this device to create muscle memory. Then they would go into dead ball feeding and slowly into rallying.

It can help develop a feel for topspin bc its a visual as well as a kinesthetic aid. Also helps establish timing.
there are a ton of drills to use on the device.

I recommend using an older racquet bc if you mishit, and hit the frame of the device, u can break strings or even a frame.

We did not hit the device hard at all. Instead, he wanted me to go very slowly so he could watch for problems.

For instance, one problem I had was that I used my LH incorrectly. In my normal stroke, I extend the LH just as we've all been taught. No issues there. For some reason, I wasn't able to extend the LF -- perhaps because The Contraption was kind of in the way mentally. So I had to do the drills with my LH behind my back. After all, we were working on contact point, and at contact you don't have your LH pointing at the ball.

I would think there would be less value in just whacking the thing as hard as you can, but maybe that would be useful to address different issues than I am having.

Anyway, I had a match yesterday in very windy conditions. I wasn't able to do a thing with this new tweak to my strokes. Had to go back to my old stroke, which still generates topspin but not as much. Then I went out and did some drop feeding. I'm starting to feel it, but it takes a lot of thought to change the old and install the new . . . .

The thing is $159. I saw it demoed at the a recent WTA tournament. Really supposed to help train you to keep your head down and eye on point of contact. They say 10,000 strokes builds habit and muscle memory. I was really interested in getting it but didn't because it seems gimicky. May be I need to reconsider. I like that you can work on your swing indoors. For working folks who just can't always get to a court, maybe it can really keep you strokes tuned.